I think the toothless Press Complaints Commission has finally managed to force The Sun to do what it really hates – apologise for lying. Remember the ‘Brave heroes hounded out by Muslim yobs‘ story it splashed on the front page, that we pointed out was a lie (thanks to Unity, obsolete and Clive)? Guess what, The Scum finally apologised on Monday – only three months after with four lines of regret. I wonder how many other lies Rebekah Wade has slipped under the radar (via obsolete and d-notice).

No apologies from Tory MP Philip Davies who told the non-existent “Muslim thugs” to “f*** off” or Migrationwatch. We also await retractions from uber-nutcase Melanie Phillips and Jihad Watch who tried to run a mile with the story.

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At last, Big Brother becomes public service broadcasting. I was just listening to the Five Live phone-in about the Shilpa business, and thinking it’s ages since I’ve heard such an open debate about race. (Although I see that Bryan Appleyard…

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I work around Wapping and often drink with the subs from News of the World. The most important thing is the headline, then the search for the perfect picture to suit the headline (unless an unexpected gem of a picture is handed to them by a pap), then it’s the angle and then come the story itself. When you tell a news story where the importance of facts is placed at number 4 then, well, it’s no surprise News International have the best team of publishing lawyers in the world…

I don’t think people should be lied to, especially when it is just fuelling prejudice. I agree with Bert Preast that newspapers get off far too easily with apologies. A headline in the Sun that said “We’ve Told a Whopper!” would be entirely appropriate in this case.